Resonance Propagation and Threshold Singularities

We consider the problem of propagation of an unstable particle in the framework of Quantum Field Theory. Using unitarity, we show that a real renormalization constant free of threshold singularities naturally arises.Comment: 5 pages, no figures, revte

Electroweak Radiative Corrections to Muon Capture

Electroweak radiative corrections to muon capture on nuclei are computed and found to be sizable. They enhance the capture rates for hydrogen and helium by 2.8% and 3.0% respectively. As a result, the value of the induced pseudoscalar coupling, g_P^exp, extracted from a recent hydrogen 1S singlet capture experiment is increased by about 21% to g_P^exp = 7.3 +/- 1.2 and brought into good agreement with the prediction of chiral perturbation theory, g_P^theory=8.2 +/- 0.2. Implications for helium capture rate predictions are also discussed.Comment: 6 page

Incorporation of QCD Effects in Basic Corrections of the Electroweak Theory

We study the incorporation of QCD effects in the basic electroweak corrections \drcar, \drcarw, and \dr. They include perturbative \Ord{\alpha\alpha_s} contributions and $t\bar{t}$ threshold effects. The latter are studied in the resonance and Green-function approaches, in the framework of dispersion relations that automatically satisfy relevant Ward identities. Refinements in the treatment of the electroweak corrections, in both the \ms\ and the on-shell schemes of renormalization, are introduced, including the decoupling of the top quark in certain amplitudes, its effect on \hat{e}^2(\mz) and \sincarmz, the incorporation of recent results on the leading irreducible \Ord{\alpha^2} corrections, and simple expressions for the residual, i.e.\ ``non-electromagnetic'', parts of \drcar, \drcarw, and \dr. The results are used to obtain accurate values for \mw\ and \sincarmz, as functions of \mt\ and \mh. The higher-order effects induce shifts in these parameters comparable to the expected experimental accuracy, and they increase the prediction for \mt\ derived from current measurements. The \ms\ and the on-shell calculations of \dr, in a recently proposed formulation, are compared and found to be in excellent agreement over the wide ranges 60\GeV \leq \mh \leq 1 \TeV, \mz \leq \mt \leq 250 \GeV.Comment: 51 pages (needs doublespace, equations, and cite styles

New Optimization Methods for Converging Perturbative Series with a Field Cutoff

We take advantage of the fact that in lambda phi ^4 problems a large field cutoff phi_max makes perturbative series converge toward values exponentially close to the exact values, to make optimal choices of phi_max. For perturbative series terminated at even order, it is in principle possible to adjust phi_max in order to obtain the exact result. For perturbative series terminated at odd order, the error can only be minimized. It is however possible to introduce a mass shift in order to obtain the exact result. We discuss weak and strong coupling methods to determine the unknown parameters. The numerical calculations in this article have been performed with a simple integral with one variable. We give arguments indicating that the qualitative features observed should extend to quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. We found that optimization at even order is more efficient that at odd order. We compare our methods with the linear delta-expansion (LDE) (combined with the principle of minimal sensitivity) which provides an upper envelope of for the accuracy curves of various Pade and Pade-Borel approximants. Our optimization method performs better than the LDE at strong and intermediate coupling, but not at weak coupling where it appears less robust and subject to further improvements. We also show that it is possible to fix the arbitrary parameter appearing in the LDE using the strong coupling expansion, in order to get accuracies comparable to ours.Comment: 10 pages, 16 figures, uses revtex; minor typos corrected, refs. adde

On Gauge Invariance of Breit-Wigner Propagators

We present an approach to bosonic ($Z^0, W^{\pm}$) as well as fermionic (top-quark) Breit-Wigner propagators which is consistent with gauge invariance arguments. In particular, for the $Z^0$-boson propagator we extend previous analyses and show that the part proportional to $k_{\mu} k_{\nu}/M^2$ must be modified near the resonance. We derive a mass shift which agrees with results obtained elsewhere by different methods. The modified form of a resonant heavy fermion propagator is also given.Comment: 16 p., TeX, (final version

On the observability of the neutrino charge radius

It is shown that the probe-independent charge radius of the neutrino is a physical observable; as such, it may be extracted from experiment, at least in principle. This is accomplished by expressing a set of experimental neutrino-electron cross-sections in terms of the finite charge radius and two additional gauge- and renormalization-group-invariant quantities, corresponding to the electroweak effective charge and mixing angle.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure; a typo in Eq.1 corrected, some comments adde

Matching conditions and Higgs mass upper bounds revisited

Matching conditions relate couplings to particle masses. We discuss the importance of one-loop matching conditions in Higgs and top-quark sector as well as the choice of the matching scale. We argue for matching scales $\mu_{0,t} \simeq m_t$ and $\mu_{0,H} \simeq max[ m_t, M_H ]$. Using these results, the two-loop Higgs mass upper bounds are reanalyzed. Previous results for $\Lambda\approx$ few TeV are found to be too stringent. For $\Lambda=10^{19}$ GeV we find $M_H < 180 \pm 4\pm 5$ GeV, the first error indicating the theoretical uncertainty, the second error reflecting the experimental uncertainty due to $m_t=175\pm6$ GeV.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures; uses epsf and rotate macro

One-loop corrections to the chargino and neutralino mass matrices in the on-shell scheme

We present a consistent procedure for the calculation of the one-loop corrections to the charginos and neutralinos by using their on-shell mass matrices. The on-shell gaugino mass parameters M and M', and the Higgsino mass parameter \mu are defined by the elements of these on-shell mass matrices. The on-shell mass matrices are different by finite one-loop corrections from the tree-level ones given in terms of the on-shell parameters. When the on-shell M and \mu are determined by the chargino sector, the neutralino masses receive corrections up to 4%. This must be taken into account in precision measurements at future e^+ e^- linear colliders.Comment: One reference added, typo in eq. (20) correcte

Fully automated convolutional neural network-based affine algorithm improves liver registration and lesion co-localization on hepatobiliary phase T1-weighted MR images.

BackgroundLiver alignment between series/exams is challenged by dynamic morphology or variability in patient positioning or motion. Image registration can improve image interpretation and lesion co-localization. We assessed the performance of a convolutional neural network algorithm to register cross-sectional liver imaging series and compared its performance to manual image registration.MethodsThree hundred fourteen patients, including internal and external datasets, who underwent gadoxetate disodium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging for clinical care from 2011 to 2018, were retrospectively selected. Automated registration was applied to all 2,663 within-patient series pairs derived from these datasets. Additionally, 100 within-patient series pairs from the internal dataset were independently manually registered by expert readers. Liver overlap, image correlation, and intra-observation distances for manual versus automated registrations were compared using paired t tests. Influence of patient demographics, imaging characteristics, and liver uptake function was evaluated using univariate and multivariate mixed models.ResultsCompared to the manual, automated registration produced significantly lower intra-observation distance (p &lt; 0.001) and higher liver overlap and image correlation (p &lt; 0.001). Intra-exam automated registration achieved 0.88 mean liver overlap and 0.44 mean image correlation for the internal dataset and 0.91 and 0.41, respectively, for the external dataset. For inter-exam registration, mean overlap was 0.81 and image correlation 0.41. Older age, female sex, greater inter-series time interval, differing uptake, and greater voxel size differences independently reduced automated registration performance (p ≤ 0.020).ConclusionA fully automated algorithm accurately registered the liver within and between examinations, yielding better liver and focal observation co-localization compared to manual registration

Supersymmetric Electroweak Corrections to Single Top Quark Production at the Fermilab Tevatron

We have calculated the $O(\alpha_{ew} M_t^2/M_W^2)$ supersymmetric electroweak corrections to single top quark production via $q\bar q' \to t\bar b$ at the Fermilab Tevatron in the minimal supersymmetric model. The supersymmetric electroweak corrections to the cross section are a few percent for $tan \beta> 1$, and can exceed 10% for $tan\beta<1$. The combined effects of SUSY electroweak corrections and the Yukawa corrections can exceed 10% for favorable parameter values, which might be observable at a high-luminosity Tevatron.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures available at reques